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Spending grinds to halt as fears rise

Gary Jacob

January 30 2012, 12:01am, The Times

Torres left Liverpool to join Chelsea for £50 million last JanuaryChelsea FC via Getty Images

Football is immune from the bubble bursting, some would have you believe, but that theory has been scotched approaching the final hours of one of the dullest transfer windows ever. The belief that spending on transfer fees and wages rises each year has been dispelled and things may yet get worse.

Premier League clubs are grappling with the likely effects of Uefa’s proposed Financial Fair Play rules. Npower Championship clubs face similar sanctions from the Football League from next season.

Manchester United and Arsenal have historically not traded in January, because of inflated valuations, and perhaps others are learning from costly mistakes. Will Chelsea or Liverpool ever be able to recoup the fees paid for Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll a year ago? Those deals,…

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